Erm, not on her porch?

[Mr Hero]

Title inspired by another thread here.

I was tracking an online order that was supposed to be delivered to a friend today. According to the tracking info, it was delivered this morning at 10am. I call FedEx to confirm this and they tell me it was delivered.

However I checked with my friend and double checked and triple checked I had the correct address, but nothing.

So someone's been lying to me and I'm pissed. Should I dispute the charges since they never came?

[Imprl59]

Generally speaking you shouldnt dispute the charges until after you give the company you bought it from a chance to resolve the issue. Have your friend check all her doors as fedex may have put it out of sight so that it wouldnt get taken.

Steve B.

[Sightings Reporter]

Generally speaking you shouldnt dispute the charges until after you give the company you bought it from a chance to resolve the issue. Have your friend check all her doors as fedex may have put it out of sight so that it wouldnt get taken.

Steve B.

I agree...check all the doors. We were home all day today, around 700, I went to get something from the car, I saw a UPS box on our back steps. Never a door bell ring, never a knock, never an attempt to let us know they dropped something off.

[42_42_42]

Delivery companies would routinely put packages either in front of my garage door or right next to it so they were 1/2 on the pavement and 1/2 in the dirt behind a bush and leave w/o ever bothering to ring the bell or check to see if I am home (I usually am during the day), despite me putting on every order as part of my address DELIVER TO FRONT DOOR ONLY (once, one was even left on our back deck, which is waaay around the back left side of the house up about 20 steeeeeep steps...that one made me go ).

It's only an extra dozen steps up to our front stoop, people!

After nearly crushing several purchases when backing out of the garage, I got a bright pink piece of poster board, wrote DELIVER ALL PACKAGES TO THE FRONT DOOR ONLY! THANK YOU on it and had it laminated and taped it to the garage door.

Haven't had a problem with a package being left in any mystery spots since.

[Mr Hero]

I filed a claim with FedEx. Before I did, I made my friend check by anywhere they might expect to see a package. Front door, back door, garage door, driveway. Nothing was found. I'm hoping this is as simple as an incorrect address on the driver's part. Then again neighbors could have brought the package over if it was just a few doors down.

I ordered her some flowers so I hope they're not in bad shape by the time she opens the package. If she can get the package by April, I'll be fine. Otherwise I damn well get my money back

[rae6684]

My boss was getting something couriered down to her, it was supposed to have been delivered, and was signed for - but not by us. The courier driver had signed it themselves and never delivered. She finally got her tickets - but boy was she steamed and let them know

[MaggieTheCat]

I filed a claim with FedEx. Before I did, I made my friend check by anywhere they might expect to see a package. Front door, back door, garage door, driveway.

When I worked in the call center of the pet supply store, we would get our fair share of calls from customers who had ordered, gotten delivery confirmation from FedEx, but didn't have the package. We would ask them to check EVERYWHERE around the house -- in bushes, between flower pots, behind garbage bins -- and if they still couldn't find it, we'd re-ship it to them at no extra cost. At least half of the time, when we had claims like this, we would get a call from a customer after we'd re-shipped the order that they'd found the original package in some obscure place that they WEREN'T expecting.

I'm not saying this is necessarily what happened here, but sometimes drivers can either be 1) really weird and/or dumb about where they leave packages or 2) they think they're trying to be cautious by putting them in obscure places so no one else will grab the package before the proper owner gets to it. Obviously this plan backfires sometimes. If your friend hasn't already, have her look everywhere around the house, even in places she wouldn't expect.

Regarding refunds or re-shipments, I don't know how it will work for whatever company you ordered from, but the way we handled it was that if FedEx damaged or failed to deliver a package, we would re-ship it for the customer, and then deal with FedEx internally to get our money back, so the customer wouldn't have the hassle of trying to get money back from FedEx. If it gets to this point in a day or two, call the company you ordered from and ask what their policy in this situation is.

[Andara Bledin]

And this is why I prefer to have all of my packages delivered to my workplace, or rquiring a signature, or failing that, to be held at the local depot for pickup.

The vast majority of the drivers I've encountered are golden, but there have always been a few that I wonder they made it past the interview process.

One particular time, I was expecting serveral packages from two different shipments, and one was coming UPS (2 parcels) and the other via FedEx. The UPS guy delivered one, but left a note that we weren't there for the 2nd. At least it was delivered the next day.

The FedEx guy, on the other hand, never even attempted to make the delivery and just left a note that it would have to be picked up, nevermind the fact that we'd been home with the door open for the last several days.

I called both centers to let them know I didn't appreciate the hijinks of their drivers. But I still had to pick up the FedEx package because they couldn't figure out how to get untangled from their own red tape.

^-.-^

[Mr Hero]

Regarding refunds or re-shipments, I don't know how it will work for whatever company you ordered from, but the way we handled it was that if FedEx damaged or failed to deliver a package, we would re-ship it for the customer, and then deal with FedEx internally to get our money back, so the customer wouldn't have the hassle of trying to get money back from FedEx. If it gets to this point in a day or two, call the company you ordered from and ask what their policy in this situation is.

Thanks I'll do that. If I can't find out on Monday what the driver did with my friend's package, I'm calling the original place up to find out their policy. I'm ticked because she should have gotten it on the 26th and she woudl have if the package was where FedEx said it was left. That day was a 7 month anniversry that we had been friends (and only friends I'm afraid.)

[Gawdzillers]

When my mom was in the hospital, the delivery people would leave packages on the front porch, when they had usually been leaving them at the garage door.

After a week, I just happen to look out my window, and there is a good-sized stack of packages waiting for me.

[crazylegs]

And this is why I prefer to have all of my packages delivered to my workplace, or rquiring a signature, or failing that, to be held at the local depot for pickup.

Not as foolproof as you might think - where I work the building is staffed 24hrs a day. There is never a moment when there isn't someone working there. However one delivery company decided they couldn't find it and another decided that there wasn't anyone in the building at 11:30hrs one day.

To those of you who know what I do you'll know what a crock of steaming shit this is - and those who don't, well take a guess!

[Andara Bledin]

The only place that has ever not shown up at my work when it was time to make a delivery was USPS. Because our local office is staffed mostly by complete idiots who don't want to be arsed to actually do their jobs.

The company I work for has a PO Box, which is (in the contract) supposed to have all mail in it by 10:00 am. We're happy if we get all mail in it by the next day. Or, hell, if they get the mail in the right box. Although they haven't had as much of that screw up as they used to.

I once watched a USPS driver pull up to the wrong side of the building, cruise by, slowly, then take off. I called shipping to make sure they didn't pull in, then told him to call up the PO to bitch about their driver being an idiot. They guy came back about half an hour later, and was pissed that he had to actually do his job. He wouldn't have had to come out, then, at all, if he'd come out when he was actually scheduled, which was two hours earlier.

We won't even mail checks from that office, because we've had things take upwards of a month to reach their destinations.

^-.-^

[csquared]

Most companies that are shipping using FedEx and UPS are shipping FOB Origin. That means that you take ownership when the package is handed to the shipping company. If anything happens in transit, it is between you and the shipper. They seller has no legal responsibility.

I had a an order that was never delivered. Forgot if it was UPS or FedEx. They claimed that they delivered it (no signature). Refused to do anything. We contacted the seller. They wouldn't take responsibility. Contacted Visa as the purchase was covered by their lost/damaged coverage. Visa apparently refused to pay the seller. Now we have been banned by the seller. No big loss there.

On another occasion, The Wife ordered several books. The neighbor's dog carried the box into the front yard, chewed it open and left everything in the rain. The Wife called the company and asked if they could pull up the order and duplicate it (to make sure all the items were correct). They asked why and she explained about the dog. They shipped a new set no charge. Many orders have been placed with them since.

[Andara Bledin]

In the mail order business in the US, the FTC has decreed that it is the responsibility of the seller to get the package to the door of the buyer (which is why eBay & PayPal are set up the way they are), regardless of method used.

Unfortunately, to the door is as much as they are required to do, so if a package is delivered without a signature required, and a neighbor or some local mooch makes off with it (or the driver absconds with it and lies), then you're legally SOL as far as legal recompense with the seller.

Any seller worth their salt, however, will generally take it up with the shipping company and side with the buyer's claim of non-reciept if there isn't a valid signature. But they are not required to as long as the shipping company claims delivery.

FOB (Freight on Board) Origin usually doesn't come into play with mail order retailers, and is mostly relegated to business to business transactions.

@ Csquared
The reason the shipping company didn't do anything for you is because you are not their client; the company you purchased the good from is. The seller would have had to initiate the claim, but obviously that seller was a complete and utter douche and it's kind of them to make sure you don't ever make the mistake of buying from them again.

^-.-^

[PepperElf]

and sometimes they just leave the package at the door
even when they're legally suppose to get a signature
like when my boyfriend had 2 bottles of wine delivered to me. package was just left on the doorstep.

ironically however, i did have to sign for the package containing beer bottle openers...